SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Riot Act (2002).
This album seems to get overshadowed by the anti-George Bush track “Bu$hleaguer.” Evidently many people were turned off by this track, and that may have had an impact on sales. Of course, I’m sure many other people were introduced to the band by this song, too. Regardless, the rest of the album shouldn’t be judged by this track, as it is rather unusual.
This disc is the first one to feature a dedicated keyboardist, “Boom” Gaspar. He’s present on all of the live discs from this concert tour, and it is quite disconcerting the first time you hear the audience yell “Boooooooooooom” when he comes out. But he plays a mean organ solo.
“Can’t Keep” opens the disc sounding unlike other PJ tracks. It has a vibe like Led Zeppelin III–almost a world-acoustic feel. “Save You” rocks out with the classic chorus, “And fuck me if I say something you don’t wanna hear. And fuck me if you only hear what you wanna hear. Fuck me if I care.” A great fast song with a cool bassline. “Love Boat Captain” feature Boom Gaspar’s first contribution to a song: lots of organ. It’s a rather touching song, a gentle piece, except for a center part which rocks out. “Cropduster” features a delicate chorus after a skittery verse. If you are familiar with Matt Cameron’s contributions to the band, you’ll not be surprised by the unusual sound of this song.
“I Am Mine” starts a section of three great songs. This one is acousticy and uplifting. “Thumbing My Way” is a pretty PJ ballad. Then “You Are” has a really funky wah wahed sound on almost the whole song. Three great tracks in a row.
Not that “Get Right” is bad. It just doesn’t quite fit the mood of the previous three. Rather, this is a punk blast that feels more than a little off-kilter (another Cameron track, of course). “Help Help” begins the really weird section of the disc with this peculiar song (catchy chorus though). It’s followed by “Bu$hleaguer” a spoken word rant, with an abstract chorus. The chanting aspect is interesting, th0ugh. “Arc” is a short chant, no doubt reflecting Eddie’s duet with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
“1/2 Full” returns to the “proper” songs with this sloppy jam. The verses are quiet but the choruses rock. “All or None” is another mellow disc ender, this one has some good subtle drumming that really propels this jazzy song.
At this point in Pearl Jam’s career, we get yet another solid effort. You more or less know what to expect on their releases although there’s always a surprise.
[READ: May 7, 2009] McSweeney’s #3
This is the third volume of McSweeney’s print journal. This one, like the first two, is a white, softcover edition. If you click on the cover above it will take you to the flickr page with a larger picture.
[UPDATE: September 25, 2009]
It has just come to my attention that David Foster Wallace DOES have a piece in this magazine. (See my comment on the Notes from the authors). His piece runs on the spine of the book and is called:
“Another Example of the Porousness of Various Borders (VI): Projected but not Improbable Transcript of Author’s Parents’ Marriage End, 1971” (which is also available in his book Brief Interviews with Hideous Men under the title “Yet Another Example of the Porousness of Certain Borders (VI)”).
The piece itself is almost shorter than the whole title and is basically a funny argument about which parent would get the double-wide trailer and which parent would get him. Pretty funny stuff, and even funnier for being on the spine.
Okay, back to the issue.
[end UPDATE]
The opening colophon on this one explains the price increase (from $8 to $10). It’s because this is a longer issue, it has color plates (foldouts!) and because of a sad but amusing anecdote of a lost bag with $2,000 cash.
There’s also notes about some stories (the Hoff & Steinhardt pieces are true) and an apology of sorts for running a story about the Unabomber.
And an actual (presumably) envelope sent from the titular Timothy McSweeney, as a way of verifying the authenticity of the title of the journal.
The final page of the colophon shows a sample of how long it will take for them to respond to submissions (which should not be funny fake news). And it ends with a half a dozen or so random questions, which they do answer: ARE THE RIVERS THAT FLOW FROM HOT SPRINGS HOT? They are often very warm. DO THEY GIVE OFF STEAM? Yes, and they smell vaguely of sulfur. MARTIN VAN BUREN: He had a certain charm. etc.
LETTERS PAGE:
JONATHAN LETHEM
Ride with Jonatahn Lethem and the Mad Brooklynite as he narrates Manhattan’s superiority complex when it comes to the other boros. Funny stuff. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Vs. (1993).
Ten was a solid record, and although it had diversity within it, overall the sound was pretty consistent. On Vs., Pearl Jam mixed it up sonically and otherwise.
Zadie Smith is the editor and she wrote the introduction. I like to cover all of the written pieces in the book, but there’s not much to say about the introduction except that it fills you in on the details of the collection. She thanks Sarah Vowell for the idea but I gather that the rest of the work was done by her.
SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-UFOs At the Zoo [DVD] (2007).
I’m not going to review the musical portion of the DVD per se…you can download the MP3s with the DVD, and I intend to give the music a good listen once I get it converted to CD. So, this is a review of the movie itself (with comments about the music too, of course).
SOUNDTRACK: ISLANDS-Arm’s Way (2008).
I enjoyed Islands’ first album (and, in a weirder way, their earlier band The Unicorns). This album seems to have made a lot of 2008 Top Ten or at least Top Fifty lists. What’s so strange about the whole affair is that I absolutely love the first 8 songs on this disc, and based on those alone, I would put it on my top ten as well.
SOUNDTRACK: MOGWAI-The Hawk is Howling (2008).
I’ve been a fan of Mogwai since I first heard of them back in 1997 with their Young Team debut. They have progressed their sonic explorations of instrumentals into unimagined complexity and sonic booms.
SOUNDTRACK: COLDPLAY-Prospekt’s March EP (2008).
This EP was released hot on the heels on Viva La Vida. So hot, in fact, that since our copy of Viva was lost, I listened to this EP first.
30,000 views may not be a milestone for many blogs. But, for a blog like this which was intended mostly as a record of what I’ve read, the fact that I’ve had 30,000 views is pretty exciting. And it seems appropriate to let you, the readers know what you the other readers have been reading here. So, here is the top ten most read posts on I Just Read About That… with a director’s commentary tacked on.
Sigur Rós are nothing if not ethereal. Their music is constantly floating up in outer space somewhere. So imagine the surprise when the first song of this disc opens with some thudding drums. And, there are acoustic instruments aplenty this time around. Their previous disc Hvarf/Heim had them playing a number of acoustic pieces in various unexpected settings. And clearly the experience must have been a good one.
SOUNDTRACK: YES-90125 (1983).
We had a snow day Monday, and since we were all home, I thought it would be fun to bust out some old records. As soon as the opening chords of “Owner of a Lonely Heart” crashed out, Sarah gave me a “What made you think of playing this?” look and then said “What made you think of playing this?”
SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Fight Test EP (2003).
The test begins NOW!
I Just Read About That... 